Flexitarian by Dee Adeenah

Flexitarian. I use this term often but to the credit of my former coworker, Mel CLANCY. I like to fast or test out new eating lifestyles but I still revert to my original indulgent way of eating. I love pasta, steak, fried chicken, cheese, anything cheesy, jerk pork or ribs and chocolate. I love rich foods, creams and butters and shit. And cheese, gimme the cheese. It’s crazy because I hate milk in real life 📷 yet I cook with heavy whipping cream and evaporated milk. And the cornbread? Condensed milk. But, you won’t catch me drinking milk unless with cereal but that’s because cereal in itself is pretty underwhelming. No milk in my tea or coffee tho. I hate milk, yet it’s there, everywhere in my diet. But, I understand this type of diet will do more harm than good so I have to balance it out. So, I tried the Daniel Fast at the beginning of this year. My friend Gerthy had done it a year prior and she had great things to say about it so, I made a conscious decision to start on January 7. Before I proceed, I’ll share that I have always fasted prior to this one. I started fasting in 2010 during the Lenten season. I would give something up for the 40 days and nights the Bible says Jesus fasted for prior to his Crucifixion. I started with giving up juice and sodas, later years I gave up just beef and pork until I was able to give up all meat and just recently with the Daniel Fast, fish as well. This isn’t something you do overnight. You have to gradually get rid of things. Fasting is also more mental than physical. For a psychological perspective, I use fasting to control my glutton. I have to tell myself no, I’m forced to be resourceful, to think, to research and to improve. Controlling the desires of my gut allows me to strengthen my ability to resist and survive. I learn hunger and I learn new ways to satisfy hunger without compromising integrity. Okay, so the Daniel Fast requires you to only consume food that started as a seed. Everything had to come from the ground: fruit, nuts and grains and water. You cannot have anything animal related including fish. It was touch but not too tough considering I had already fasted by only eating fish and vegetables and fruits in the past. For this, I had to remove the fish AND the cheese. Dairy comes from animals and yeah... no, I’m not eating cashew cheese 📷. I got into zucchini pasta in March 2018 and it was GOOD. I like tomatoes and garlic and those come from seeds and the ground so boom, vegan pasta for dinner 🥘. I had a lot of fun with the Daniel Fast. I did it for 21 days. I broke fast to bury my grandmother in Jamaica and resumed upon my return to the States. But, I learned a few recipes and tips I’ll share below. While the Fast was great and being a vegan was beneficial mentally and definitely physically, I still wanted a piece of steak and garlic BUTTER PARMESAN potatoes. I went back to my regular diet slowly and ate what I wanted for two weeks before embarking on my Lenten Fast where I maintained Daniel foundation but ate fish twice a week. After that fast I went back to alternating the weeks/days I maintain a vegan diet vs my Dee diet and it’s working for me. My vegan days sleep into my Dee diet because not eating meat is almost kinda sorta second nature but do know, that Parmesan is in arms reach.